by Lea Hart
“Ivy,” Colin whined. “You don’t have to overreact. I’m still your brother.”
Ivy delicately poured gravy over her plate, the same way Colin had. Ryan watched as she threw her brother a pitying look. The poor sap had dug his own grave, and Ryan figured he was going to do a whole lot of digging before he ever saw a plate of brownies again. “Everything is perfect,” Ryan said as he dug in.
Colin muttered, “Suck-up.” And dug into his own food.
“I may be a suck-up, but I never have to worry about where my biscuits are coming from.”
Ivy patted his leg and smiled. “That’s right, honey.” She threw her brother a look and returned to her meal.
It was about time to change the subject, so Ryan jumped in. “What time is Garret coming by today?”
“He’s coming by around one. I spoke with Mama, and she offered to make a plate of sandwiches. I have to catch up on some projects for SAI, and I promised Rory that I would have them done by today.”
“Okay. I’ll finish installing the system here and then go over to Grams’s and get started on hers,” Ryan said around a mouthful of food. He would also have to figure out some time to work out. He was eating all of Ivy’s food and if he wasn’t careful, he was going to be out of shape before he reported back to Florida. He had a long commitment to combat readiness, and he didn’t want to let the team down, no matter how good Ivy’s cooking was. He’d seen firsthand last week how ops required them to function like they were still SEALs. Trevor had carried that girl for over three miles with all of his gear in high heat and humidity and kept his eight-minute-mile pace. The last thing Ryan wanted to do was be in a position to let his brothers down when they were in the middle of an op. “I’m going to work out today at some point.”
“Go whenever you want, honey,” Ivy replied.
He smiled as he ate a sausage. She had used an endearment and she probably wasn’t even aware of it. He silently let out a shout as he ate his breakfast. If he made a big deal of it, she would just deny it. And the last thing he wanted to do was give her something to fuss over. There was still someone out there who had taken a shot at her, and they were far from figuring out who that person was. Their relationship was going to be the easy part of her life, not the part she fought against. “Colin, you want to run with me later on? You can show me the town.”
“Sure. Why not?” he replied as he refilled his plate. “It’s not like my sister cares what I do.”
Ivy stuck her tongue out and then went back to eating. Maturity was the side dish they were missing on the table this morning. Maybe they could get some at lunchtime. A biscuit flew across the table and landed on Ivy’s plate.
“Thank you, Colin. I was ready for another one.”
Ryan laughed and then went back to eating. Some truces were easier than others.
***
Wednesday Evening
Ivy pulled herself out of the pool and plopped herself down on a chair. Ryan was swimming back and forth and it was a sight to behold. His strokes were smooth, and he moved through the water effortlessly. Made sense, since he’d spent so much time in the water over the last ten years. As she studied his massive arms lift out of the water, she thought back to last night and what they had done together. Her face heated as she remembered how shameless she’d been. Best as she could remember, there was begging involved. Good Lord, she had lost her good manners, and it was about damn time too.
All those years of polite dates, appropriate boyfriends, and bland sex had set her up for losing her sense spectacularly. It had finally happened and she couldn’t have been happier. In fact, she was wondering how quickly it could happen again.
A lot of ideas were playing across her mind… ideas that involved her mouth all over his body. He was a work of art, and she wanted to appreciate it from the top of his silky hair to the bottom of his feet. No doubt about it, she was head over heels in lust with the man in her pool. Ideally, he would be done soon and she could try one of her ideas out. They were going to be alone tonight, because her brother had gone back to Austin. So maybe sex under the stars would happen.
Lying back, she closed her eyes and made a little list of the things she wanted to do to him. She had always found prioritizing to be important, and she knew just what she wanted to put as her number one item.
***
Drops of cold water rolling across her stomach woke her up. Sitting up, she saw Ryan standing over her. “How long was I asleep?”
He grabbed a towel and dried himself off. “Maybe fifteen minutes.”
“I didn’t get much sleep last night, and I guess it caught up with me.” Levering herself all the way up, she found herself at eye level with Ryan’s crotch. Mmm, might be time to do the first thing on her list. As he was drying his hair with the towel, she untied his swim trunks and then ran her hand down his length. Licking her lips, she smiled. He definitely liked the feel of her touch.
“Ivy…what are you doing?”
“If you need to ask me that, then I think we may have a serious issue on our hands.” She slid his trunks down and his erection popped free. Lord and master, he was magnificent. “I didn’t have a chance last night, so I thought…” Running her hand up and down his length had him hardening even more. He took a sharp inhalation of breath as she licked the drops of excitement that were glistening on the head of his massive cock. It wasn’t a word that she often used, but it seemed to fit what Ryan had. It was a masculine word to describe what God had blessed him with. She took him into her mouth and heard his groan of pleasure. Looking up through her eyelashes at his face, she realized he was completely in her control. His eyes were closed, and the last of the evening light allowed her to see the streaks of red that slashed across his cheeks.
“God, Ivy. Amazing,” he said through gritted teeth.
She licked him from shaft to tip, stopping to nibble at the sensitive spot beneath the head of his length. Tension radiated from his body as she continued her ministrations and licked him like a damn lollypop. He was delicious, and she sensed that he was about to lose his famous control, as he held her head gently and thrust his hips slowly. Working her hand in tandem with her mouth, she moved down him faster. A loud groan escaped his throat as he pulled away. Gripping his hip, she tried to hold him in her mouth.
“Too close,” he mumbled as he slipped out of her grasp. He lifted her up, flipped her over his shoulder, and carried her into the house.
“Hey, where are you taking me? I wanted to have sex under the stars.”
“You’re too damn loud. We’d have the neighbors calling the police after I gave you one stroke,” he managed to get out while he dumped her on the bed. He stripped her of her bikini before she knew what was happening and had his mouth between her legs before she could form a response.
“I wanted to seduce you,” she moaned as her back came up off the bed. God, he was good with that tongue of his. “I had more planned.”
Lifting his face, he gave her a sly grin. “The night is young.”
He moved his mouth back and started sliding his tongue in a rhythm that had her mindless. “Ryan…” Incapable of saying more, she felt herself on the precipice of an orgasm when he took his mouth away and flipped her over. She was like a damn rag doll. “What are you…” He dragged the tip of his penis along her wet folds and teased her bud a few times before he held on to her hips and buried himself deep within her body. “Oh, dear God,” she moaned loudly as he held himself still. Nine inches was no joke.
“It’s going to be fast,” he groaned.
He pulled out and then slid back in, and that’s when things got interesting. He set a driving rhythm that had her wanting more. Moving her hips back made him bottom out as he created the perfect friction and thrust mercilessly. Never before had someone taken her like this. His big hand wound around her body, and he slipped his finger against her clit and pressed. She went off like fireworks on the Fourth of July. The sound she made joined Ryan’s shout as they rode out the wa
ves of pleasure. His body covered hers as he held her tightly. As the tidal wave of pleasure rolled over her body, she knew that it was only his arms holding her together. Tiny shivers coursed through her body as she collapsed onto the bed.
Ryan fell down next to her, and his heavy arm fell across her back. Ryan Cordell was her addiction and there wasn’t a thing she could do. And really…why would she?
***
The jarring sound of a phone ringing was trying to drag Ivy out of the lovely dream she was having. Ryan leaned over, and she gave up on falling back into dreamland. The phone blessedly stopped ringing, and she rolled over and opened one eye. “I’m not taking calls,” she muttered.
“Someone from the Austin Police Department called. You may want to see what they need,” he said as he sat up.
Pushing herself over, she took the phone and hit redial. “My brain isn’t working because you keep giving me screaming orgasms, which makes me incapable of rational thought.”
Before he could reply, the call was answered. She pushed his hand away and held onto it. “Yes, this is Ivy Bellows. Yes, he’s passed. What?” Her eyes flew up to Ryan’s and she shook her head. “No one was hurt? Okay. That’s all that matters. Yes, we’ll come tomorrow. Thank you.”
The phone slid out of her hand and she started to shake. “Someone tried to break into Daddy’s house in Austin and started a fire. The fire department got there before any real damage was done. Apparently, the alarm Daddy had got everyone there in time.”
“How’d they know to call you?” Ryan asked as he scooped her into his lap.
“Daddy had Colin and me on the emergency contact list. If that doesn’t beat all, then I don’t know what does.”
“You and your brother are all the family he had, so it makes sense,” he responded as he rubbed his hand up and down her back.
“He never treated us much like family.” Burying her face in his neck, she took a couple of deep breaths and felt her nerves settle. “What in the word is going on?”
“Your daddy’s money is going to make you and Colin targets. There’s no pretending otherwise.”
“I guess it’s lucky for us that I happen to work for one of the best security companies in the world. I’ll call Max tomorrow and tell him what’s going on. I’m going to need to hire SAI for more than intelligence analysis.”
“Max isn’t going to want to be paid,” Ryan said firmly.
“I am the co-owner of a multimillion-dollar company and potentially a very big client of SAI, so he doesn’t have much choice. If he doesn’t agree, then I’m going over his head and talk to Rory.”
“Is that a steel rod I see in your spine?”
“Yep.” She snuggled closer. “Are you hungry?”
He lifted his hand and looked at his watch. “It’s ten and we missed dinner, so yeah…I’m hungry. I guess we’ll start with food.”
Her head flew up, and she assessed his look. “Oh, my God, you have the sex look in your eyes.”
“Get used to it, honey. It’s pretty much permanent.”
She scrambled off his lap and ran into the bathroom. “I’m going to get cleaned up and then I’ll fix us something to eat.”
“I already know what I’m hungry for,” he said to the closed door.
***
Ryan watched Ivy in the kitchen and counted himself a lucky man as he watched Ivy’s hips swaying while she stirred a pot on the stove. Apparently, whipping up pasta at ten at night wasn’t a big deal for his girl. A lot of things seemed that way; at least, that’s how she made it look. He had a feeling that underneath all that effortless competency lay a well of hard work and tenacity.
“Can you cut up the bread and pour us something to drink? This is just almost done.”
“Sure, honey.” He heaved himself off the stool and got to work. “When do you want to leave in the morning?”
“I figured we could leave around nine. That will let us avoid most of the morning traffic.”
“Are we picking up Phoebe or is she renting a car?”
“She’s renting a car. Her plane arrives in Austin around ten, so maybe I’ll have her meet us at Daddy’s house.” She dumped the pasta into the pot that held the sauce. She stirred it for a moment and then filled two plates. After she placed them on the island, she grabbed the bread and sat down. “Tell me a story about your family, Ryan. I’m tired of thinking about mine.”
He filled his fork with pasta and shoved into his mouth. He’d known she was going to become curious at some point. He just hadn’t figured it would happen now. When he’d finished chewing, he wiped his mouth and drained his glass of tea. “My mom left us when I was five. She came from a wealthy East Coast banking family and decided that rural life on a winery wasn’t for her. One day she was there and the next day she was gone. We didn’t get much of an explanation, and after a while, we quit asking if she was coming back. When I look back on it, I realize how well my father held it together. I think it was as much of a shock to him as it was to us. I give him a ton of credit. He raised four boys on his own while running a winery and had a good attitude about it.”
Ivy’s hand covered his, and it felt surprisingly good to get the story out. “Two years after she left, we were summoned to New York for a week-long visit. It went as well as you might imagine. Four boys ranging in age from twelve to five arrive in New York City accompanied by a nanny Mother hired for the trip. We were kids who were used to running around and playing hard. Our manners were good, but apparently not good enough for Mommy Dearest. We stayed at the Four Seasons and it was pretty much torture. We were not used to being cooped up in a hotel room and then spending the day in museums. My youngest brother, Ben, left a trail of broken glassware across the city. He was three when mom left and he didn’t have any real memories of her. All she was to him was a woman who kept telling him to be careful. It made him nervous, which made him clumsy, which made it worse.”
“God, Ryan. That sounds horrible. I’m not going to enjoy meeting her. The story makes me sick.”
“You won’t have to. She died about five years ago.”
“Oh, Lordy. I’m sorry.”
When she covered her mouth and looked stricken, Ryan slipped his arm around her. “We got to repeat the New York experience a couple more times before we all just gave up. She remarried when I was about ten, and we met her husband the last summer we went to the city. My youngest brother refused to go after the first two trips, and Dad didn’t make him. He figured it would be best if Ben stayed home. It’s funny, because he’s a doctor now and the least clumsy person you ever met. Turns out Dad was right about saving him from the torture of those trips.”
“So staying in fancy hotels isn’t your idea of a good time?”
“Absolutely not. When I was at the Ritz in Florida, my skin was itchy. I figured it was because I had been OCONUS for so long, but I think it had to do with all of the trips with Mother.”
He watched her stand and move in between his legs. Wrapping her arms around his middle, she kissed his chest. Which was exactly what he needed. “I guess you and I are lucky. At least we each got one good parent. Sometimes that’s all you need. Dad is as good a man as there is, and he’s my role model. Never once did I hear him complain about raising four boys on his own. I asked him about it when I was in college, and he said he considered himself fortunate that he never had to fight Mother for custody. He wanted us and made sure that we knew that from the moment she left.”
She patted his chest and stepped away. “I’ll let you finish your supper. Thank you for sharing the story.”
He started eating again and felt a lot lighter than he had in a long time. Being around Ivy seemed to soothe his soul, and something that had been empty was now full. Turned out the person he didn’t know he needed was sitting right next to him.
Glancing over, he noticed she wasn’t eating. “I have plans that are going to require some energy, so finish your dinner.” When she lifted her fork and dug into her pasta, he went bac
k to his meal. His appetite for Ivy wasn’t diminishing. The more he had her, the more he wanted her. Now all he had to do was make sure she felt the same way.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Thursday
It had been too quiet since he’d arrived on Sunday, and he figured it was the calm before the storm. Speaking of storms, here came his favorite one dressed in a skirt and polka dot shirt. “Hi, honey. Have I told you how much I like it when you wear skirts?”
Her eyes grazed over him and she smirked. “I figured that out yesterday when you slid that big hand of yours up my leg and inside my panties.”
“What can I say? You’re my favorite flavor.” He watched her eyes grow big and let out a laugh. “You can pretend to be shocked, but we both know it’s an act.”
Lifting her chin, she gave him a look that was worthy of a nun. “I can assure you that I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Her cell phone ringing saved them both from further debate. “It’s Phoebe.”
Ryan returned his attention to the material Lucky had sent them earlier. It appeared that there were more than a few executives at Bellows Energy with colorful pasts. It looked like Bill surrounded himself with his cronies and didn’t take into consideration qualifications or education when he hired someone.
Ivy got off the phone and sat down next to him. “Phoebe’s starved, so I told her to take an Uber over to Avenue B Grocery Store. I’ll have Colin meet her there, and then he can drive them to Daddy’s house.”
“Let’s get going, then. We don’t want your brother to eat all the food before we get there.”
“He’s a growing boy. He needs to eat,” Ivy replied. “The last thing I want to deal with is a cranky Colin. No one is grouchier than him when he’s hangry.”
Her phone rang again and Ryan watched her face scrunch up. “Who is it, honey?’